Kelly sets sights on state title

For the Kelly softball team, a trip to the final four is tradition.

The Hawks have made it to the state semifinals 15 times since the program began in 1980, including seven times in the past 10 seasons.

But titles have been elusive for the Hawks, whose last state title came in 2004.

"We'd like to come out on top in No. 15 and have a good showing up there and be in the championship game on Saturday and hopefully come out on top," Kelly coach Rhonda Ratledge said.

The Hawks (19-7) play South Callaway (23-4) at 10 a.m. Friday in a Class 2 semifinal at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield.

"Don't really know a whole lot about South Callaway, but when you make it to the final four you've got to be doing something right to get there," Ratledge said. "Hopefully we can be on our game and come out swinging like we have. We've only allowed one run, an unearned run, throughout postseason and so hopefully we can keep it that way with them."

South Callaway bats .365 as a team and has four starters that are batting at least .400. The Bulldogs are led by Karli Leeper, who is batting .500 with 21 RBIs.

Pitcher Abby Bartley has won 18 games for South Callaway and has 93 strikeouts. She also bats .450 with 21 RBIs.

The Bulldogs made it to the Class 2 quarterfinals last year, but lost 2-1 to Palmyra.

Kelly went on to beat Palmyra 5-4 to secure third place in the Class 2 state tournament and return many players from that team.

Kelly shortstop Jade Rampley throws to first in the third inning of the Hawks’ 11-1, five-inning, run-rule win over the St. Vincent Indians in the Class 2 District 1 championship game Oct. 1 at Kelly High School in Benton, Mo. (Adam Vogler)

"A lot of the girls and a lot of the big, key hitters are moving up," Ratledge said. "They were sophomores last year and now juniors. [Alexis Dock] went from a freshman last year pitching at state, now into a sophomore, so she's got that state under her belt -- same with Kristi [Brucker], same thing there."

Dock, who is 10-3 this season with 94 strikeouts, leads the Hawks offense with a .514 batting average and 23 RBIs. Brucker, a junior, is 7-4 with 63 strikeouts and bats .351 with 17 RBIs.

"We've got good defense behind our little pitchers, and both of our little pitchers throw very well," Ratledge said.

Ratledge is also confident in the team's offense and her plan is to get the ball in play and put as much pressure on the opposing pitcher as quickly as possible.

As a team, Kelly bats .355. Junior Samantha Ratledge is batting .417 with 20 RBIs and leads the team with 24 stolen bases. Junior Savannah Ashley is batting .406 with 18 RBIs.

The Hawks lone senior Jade Rampley is batting .366 with 19 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.

"Three out of her four years she's been to the final four, so she knows what it looks like, she knows what to expect -- the crowd, the atmosphere -- so that helps having all that behind us," Ratledge said about Rampley's experience.

Both Rampley and Samantha Ratledge noted that the team's attitude is improved this year -- players are more supportive and don't dwell on mistakes like they did last year.

"When somebody gets down we pick each other up, and we try not to get too deep into our thoughts and worrying about errors and stuff like that," Rampley said. "Some of the girls on the team would get stuck in their errors and mistakes and stuff like that and they'd let it affect their game, but this year it's a lot better."

The Hawks will play either Marionville or Bishop-LeBlonde for the title or third place. The third-place game will be played at 1 p.m. Friday and the championship game is at 10 a.m. Saturday.

"I'm ready," Samantha Ratledge said. "I think we're fully prepared for this. At the beginning of the season this is our goal -- to make it to state -- and now that we've made it, it's a goal to win it. Gotta keep pushing for it."